us. i appreciate your roll. i've said repeatedly and i wonder if people have a hearing disability and can't comprehend what i'm saying. i've always advocated the benefits, the wages, the retirement for amtrak employees in whatever structure we adopt making certain that's protected. i've also been here and watched the number of personnel from amtrak go from 29,000 to 19,000 and i say that doesn't pretend a bright future for labor either if you're the head of a union or labor organization or a member. i've been there fighting for labor when labor had to fight amtrak and the federal government for benefits and wages. in fact, that was a prolonged and difficult experience for the people who worked for amtrak, those union members who were denied benefits and wages. and i als used the example of freight rail which gives better salary and better wages and reaches agreements without that type of poem significance. as far as my record, i have always supported the right of americans to join a labor